The Middle East Restaurant and Nightclub

The Middle East Restaurant and NightclubBoasting one of the motliest music scenes in town, The Middle East is a versatile entertainment complex and nightlife magnet for hipsters, college students, and the music obsessed.BostonUnited States42.363752-71.101252

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Party Earth Review
Boasting one of the motliest music scenes in town, The Middle East is a versatile entertainment complex and nightlife magnet for hipsters, college students, and the music obsessed.
Divided into four areas, the venue’s...
...
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The Middle East Restaurant and Nightclub
Review

The Scene

Boasting one of the motliest music scenes in town, The Middle East is a versatile entertainment complex and nightlife magnet for hipsters, college students, and the music obsessed.

Cambridge / Somerville, Boston –

Boasting one of the motliest music scenes in town, The Middle East is a versatile entertainment complex and nightlife magnet for hipsters, college students, and the music obsessed.

Divided into four areas, the venue’s main space is known as “The Corner,” a festive red and yellow bar and dining room featuring acoustic acts, where a perpetual gaggle of indie fans and collegians meet up for beer and falafel before fanning out to see what’s on deck in the other rooms.

Patrons looking for hard-driving basement rock can head to the graffiti-decorated “Downstairs,” a spacious music room whose dual bars keep the head-bangers happy while indie bands like Ra Ra Riot and Okkervil River rock out on stage.

Those in search of a mellower vibe can make their way to the more intimate “Upstairs” loft space, which showcases local talent and an oddball décor featuring seating fashioned from the bench of an old VW van.

The room with the most distinct personality, however, is Zuzu’s, an easygoing weeknight lounge sporting mirrors and Christmas lights that transforms into a flirty dance party on the weekends, when a trendier crowd of sophisticated twenty-somethings shows up to groove to the DJ’s mix of vintage soul, funk, and R&B.

Full of options and a free-minded, happy-go-lucky clientele, The Middle East is a mecca for clubbers and music lovers in the mood for something different.

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Tip from Jonah:

Good news – if you don’t finish your drink in The Corner before the show starts either Upstairs or Downstairs, you don’t have to leave it behind. Although glass isn’t allowed in either room, you can just ask for a plastic cup to pour your drink in. No sense wasting it!

Crowd

Music fans, college students, rockers, alternative types, tourists, artsy young professionals, and club-goers, late teens to late 30s.

Entertainment / Music

Live bands playing rock, indie, Brazilian, cover, acoustic, or bluegrass most nights Upstairs and Downstairs, and in the The Corner Thursdays through Saturdays.

Occasional belly dancing and open mic comedy nights in The Corner. DJs spin everything from funk and dance to Motown six nights a week at Zuzu’s. Check website for music schedule.

Food / Miscellaneous

Full menu of Middle Eastern dishes including spinach pie and stuffed grape leaves, served at The Corner, Zuzu’s, and Upstairs.

The Middle East Restaurant and Nightclub
User Reviews

The Middle East is a staple of the Boston music scene and it’s not hard to see why even after one visit. The Middle East oozes trendy and on a Friday night is always packed, whether or not the music playing that particular night is anything special. The food is great, the decor and style is awesome, and the vibes are really nothing other than positive, positive, positive.
As a native Bostonian I’m often asked by friends what they need to do on a short visit to Bean Town, and I always recommend a night in Cambridge and specifically a visit to the Middle East. I’d say more or less without fail I’ve only ever heard good things about the place. A vegetarian friend from New York raved to me about the falafel there, which is really saying something.
And if the food at the Middle East is prime -- especially for the price -- then the club scene is one notch above top. This has been my default dance locale in Boston since I was eighteen, which is yet another reason to love the Middle East -- the doors are almost always open to eighteen year olds. College freshmen rejoice!
I’ve said it before and will undoubtedly say it again: the Middle East is the one Boston landmark that absolutely must be on your shortlist on your trip to the Hub of the Universe.

Whether you're going to the Middle East to see a band you love, or just looking for something to do with your friends when other plans fall through, you're bound to have a great time. With reasonably priced drinks (you can get in as long as you're 18+ most nights), great homemade and vegetarian friendly food, and music every night, it's definitely a spot you have to check out. Although it's not the most "cleanly" night club, if you're prepared to get close and personal to the other club-goers, dance to some fun up and coming music, and meet some new friends, you'll be sure to have a great time.